Stuffed pancakes will always remain a special item for me. Not because i have always liked it but because in 2015 it became a special item.
I met Sajan in 2015. It was a dry hot afternoon when one of my friends was visiting me. Her husband was supposed to pick her up. He was apparently near my house for a meeting with one of his vendors. The vendor had driven and dropped him to my place. Since the husband and the vendor were friends I naturally invited them both. The vendor was a strange man, looked tired and haggard and was in an extremely foul mood. He later told me after we later started dating, he was hungry and had not eaten the whole because of work pressure. Being a nice Indian family we served them some snacks. Yes. Stuffed Pancakes !
This chap just gobbled up the entire serving of Pancakes meant for the whole table. It was after he finished he realised what he had done. My mom just smiled and made some more and i just kept glaring at him. I was furious. How it all then went another way? Well thats another story:)
Let's get back to Stuffed Pancakes. Chickpea Pancakes can be extremely healthy. It is a rich source of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Chickpeas are high in protein and make an excellent replacement for meat in vegetarian and vegan diets.
To add to the health quotient i add a lot of veggeis into the stuffings. I also use cottage cheese. You can replace it with tofu to make the dish completely vegan.
On the other hand if your diet includes meat, you can add chopped boiled eggs, chicken or lamb to the stuffing.
These kind of pancakes can be made using a variety of flours taken from grains such as chickpea, rice, wheat, maize etc. You can use them individually or mix them as per your taste. I was a little indulgent with the cooking oil this time around. However one can do this with almost half of the oil i have used if health is a priority.
Ingredients
Fillings
1/2 cup crushed peanuts
1 tomato chopped
5-6 bean stalks chopped
1 onion finely chopped
1/2 carrot grated
1 medium size potato boiled and chopped.
100 grams cottage cheese. Chopped
Coriander leaves.
Salt to taste.
1/2 tsp Sugar – Optional
1.5 tbsp cooking oil
Pancakes
1 cup Chickpea flour (besan)
4 tbsp rice flour
Fresh Coriander leaves – 10-12 stalks
1-2 green chilli - Optional
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
2 tbsp Oil / Per Pancake
Salt to taste
1/2 cup Water
The Recipe
Filling
Heat a pan on medium flame. Pour a spoon a cooking oil.
Add the red chilli powder and grated ginger or paste.
Add the onion. Fry till golden brown.
Add the crushed peanuts. Fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the beans and the grated carrot. Fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the boiled potato. Mix well.
Add the cottage cheese. Mix well.
Add the tomato and coriander leaves. Mix well.
Add the salt and mix well.
You can add a spoon of cooking oil, ghee ( clarified butter) or butter if you want. This is optional to enhance taste, If health is priority you can skip this step.
Mix well and set aside.
Stuffed Pancakes
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl : Chickpea Flour, rice flour, turmeric, coriander and red chilli powders, and salt.Add the green chilies and coriander leaves. Mix well
Add the water slowly as you mix. This will ensure there are no lumps. The consistency should be similar to that of batter used for dosa or pancakes.
Heat a pan on medium flame. Wait for the pan to heat. Pour a spoon of cooking oil. Spread it.
Pour about 1/2 cup of the batter into the pan and spread evenly . If you are not good at spreading the batter evenly into a circle. Use a small metal bowl to spread it. Starting from the centre, spiral the batter outward evenly to form a circle.
When it starts become crisp, gently spread one tsp of oil over it.Flip the pancake.
Keep flipping until crisp and brown on one side and slightly less crisp on another.
Put some of the fillings you made earlier on the less crisp side. Fold both sides of the pancake with the spatula.
Flip and fry. Make sure the pancake does NOT open. Pour a spoon of cooking oil all around the folded pancake to ensure it fries well.Cook covered for a minute.
Serve with garnishing of Coriander leaves or Grated coconut.
There! Your stuffed pancakes are ready.This is a very versatile meal. It can be had as a snack or a meal.It's also healthy.And as most of the recipes we put out.The adults enjoy it and the kids love it.
If you wish to know anything about Indian cuisine do reach out via the comments section, I will try my best to share.
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Yenjoy!